Folk songs in the content of general music education in China

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of increasing the role of folk songs in the content of general musical education. This problem is relevant not only for China, but also for Russia. It is connected with the tasks of the modern state educational and cultural policy of these countries, aimed at educating the younger generations in the context of their own national and cultural traditions and spiritual and moral values. The purpose of the article is to reveal the role of Chinese folk songs in the content of modern general musical education in China. The article reveals certain aspects of the history and artistic originality of Chinese folk songs, considers the state requirements for their development by schoolchildren, presents the results of the analysis of folk songs included in music textbooks for grades 1–6 of China’s comprehensive schools. It was revealed that they include significantly fewer samples of folk music than Western European and modern Chinese. Among the folk songs, songs of ethnic minorities (Tibetan, Mongolian, etc.) prevail, and not of the Chinese ethnic group. From this, a conclusion was made about the need to develop and theoretically and methodologically substantiate the pedagogical conditions for increasing the role of Chinese folk songs in the content of general musical education in China.